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Wyoming education chief says state cut hundreds of standards, warns YTOP scores delayed until fall
Summary
State Superintendent Megan Denfelder told the Joint Education Committee the state has removed roughly 795 standards with about 250 more planned (an estimated 60% reduction), has shortened some statewide tests and will delay YTOP score releases this year while standard‑setting and cut scores are completed.
State Superintendent Megan Denfelder told lawmakers on June 1 that the Department of Education has significantly pared back the volume of state content standards and is adjusting assessment timelines as a result.
Denfelder said the department has ‘‘reduced standards by 795 with an estimated 250 more to come’’ and characterized that work as ‘‘an estimated 60% reduction in standards,’’ emphasizing the change is intended to prioritize, not weaken, what is taught and assessed.
Why it matters: Denfelder and WDE staff said the standards reductions drove a need to reset standard‑setting work and cut scores. That process, combined with an upcoming vendor change for YTOP, has delayed release of some student results; WDE said math and science score results that districts normally receive before the school year’s end will instead be distributed in the fall.
WDE Director of Standards and Assessment Lori Hernandez told the panel that changes in assessment blueprints and an upcoming vendor transition complicate year‑to‑year comparisons but that the department uses linking studies and concordance tables to help interpret trends. Hernandez said educator panels convene for standard‑setting in the summer and develop ‘‘performance level descriptors’’ that guide where cut scores fall on a vendor’s measurement scale.
On testing time, Denfelder noted reductions under the department’s assessment‑reduction plan: math testing time in grades 3–8 was reduced by a range of 20 to 39 minutes per grade, she said. WDE staff also told the committee the statutory 1% cap applies to the summative session itself; districts’ scheduling choices and optional interims can make testing feel more disruptive even when the summative window meets the legal cap.
Denfelder additionally briefed the committee on several related items: emergency and phased rules for statewide literacy requirements (public comment and a stakeholder cabinet are underway), a review of career and technical student organization funding policies, and the resumption of education savings account (ESA) payments after a federal injunction was lifted (the underlying litigation continues).
What’s next: WDE plans a standard‑setting event this summer to revisit cut scores and to align to a new vendor’s measurement scale next year. Denfelder said the department will continue outreach and follow up with the committee about implementation timing.
Source material: Superintendent Denfelder’s update and WDE standard‑setting explanations to the Joint Education Committee (June 1, 2026).
